'March On' documentary will be presented on Feb. 23 in Summit

âMarch Onâ documentary will be presented on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. at The Unitarian Church in Summit. Pictured are City Councilman Michael Sabatino of Yonkers, N.Y., and Robert Voorheis.

March On, a prizewinning documentary profiling five same-sex couples and their fight for marriage equality, will be shown at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at The Unitarian Church in Summit, 4 Waldron Ave. (at Springfield Ave.).

The event is free, and the public is invited to attend. Light refreshments will be served.
City Councilman Michael Sabatino of Yonkers, N.Y., will introduce the film and lead a discussion after the screening. Sabatino and his husband, Robert Voorheis, who are featured in the film, have been together for 32 years and were officially married ten years ago in Niagara Falls, Canada.

The movie focuses on the National Equality March of Oct. 11, 2009, which drew 250,000 people from all across the country to Washington, D.C. It is based on personal videos taken by the five couples using inexpensive video cameras provided by director Laura McFerrin. As a result, all the couples tell their own stories.

In the film, Sabatino and Vorheis recount their experience of being asked to leave their Roman Catholic church choir after their marriage was publicly announced. In another story, two committed lesbian women drive to the march by way of the patchwork of states where same-sex marriage is legal. Another couple was married in California during the period between a California Supreme Court decision recognizing marriage equality and the passage of Proposition 8, which nullified the ruling.

The movie also includes statements by Lady Gaga, Lieutenant Dan Choi and other advocates for marriage equality. Among other honors, March On won two prizes at the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival in 2010: best score/soundtrack in a Documentary Feature and honorable mention for a Documentary Feature.

The Unitarian Church in Summit draws members from various religious and cultural backgrounds who join together in their individual quests for truth and meaning. Its mission is to be a radically inclusive religious community that feeds the human spirit and heals the world. There is no creed or test of membership, but the community is bound together by principles, shared values and a desire to serve.

For further information, call the church at 908-273-3245 or visit its website at ucsummit.org.